


Fall of the Kreuzbasar

by DecemberTea



Category: Shadowrun, Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Genre: Blood and Injury, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 23:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11473788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecemberTea/pseuds/DecemberTea
Summary: The Kreuzbasar falls as the corps take over Berlin.Galahad keeps his promise to Monika that he would protect it until his last breath.





	Fall of the Kreuzbasar

**Author's Note:**

> A self-indulgent thing I wrote for myself to fill the hole left after finishing Dragonfall.  
> Maybe other people will enjoy it, but this was written mostly for me. Not proofread.

Galahad slumped against a wall, trying to control his descent to the floor. He could hear gunfire outside in the alley, explosions down the street. Were they magical, or grenades? He couldn’t tell. Everything was blurring together, the sights, the sounds, the pain. He’d been hit hard, too hard this time. He tried to take a deep breath and center himself, to draw on the magic within him to begin healing his wounds, and dreadful, wet coughing wracked his body. He fell hard on his side onto the floor, blood flying out of his mouth onto the wood flooring next to his face.

He’d promised Monika, promised Paul, promised _everyone_ he’d protect the Kreuzbasar to his last breath. He just didn’t think it would be this soon – this agonizing – this lonely – this _pointless._ He didn’t know where his team – his family – was. He hadn’t seen Glory in months, after her last check-in on her quest to find Harrow. Dietrich had gone out in a literal blaze of glory, taking out at least thirty of the invading corporate soldiers in an explosion Galahad knew came directly from the Dragonslayer himself. Eiger had been covering the retreat of some civilians last he’d seen her, guiding them to the path through the sewers they’d worked out in case of something like this. Dante stayed with her, protecting the remaining citizens of the kiez, just like Monika would have done.

And Blitz… he didn’t want to think about where Blitz was. They’d been fighting side by side, Blitz had jacked in to the Matrix and was attempting to hack their drones and turrets, turn the tide of battle, while Galahad kept watch and covered him. He was blindsided by a manaball from a corporate mage, the explosion blasted him 20 feet away and stunned him momentarily, and when he looked back Blitz was gone.

Galahad ran, lopsided and clumsy while they shot at him. One of them hit him in the chest just as he ducked into the old Café Cezve. He’d stumbled through the abandoned shop and locked himself in the storeroom, where he was now crumpled into a heap on the floor.

His breath was shallow and rasping, and his entire body shivered. He half wished they would just get in here and end it, at least give him some damn peace. With shaking hands, he retrieved the cracked PDA from his pocket and turned it on. He pressed a few buttons and eventually the screen showed what he was looking for. A photo of the team, celebrating after they freed the Feuerschwinge. Bruised and tired, but relieved to be alive, looking forward to the future. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he should’ve let Amsel kill the dragons. This was all Lofwyr’s doing, after all.

Tears stung his eyes and he struggled to breathe. “I’m sorry, I’ve failed you all, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry…” He had no control of the words falling from his mouth. He heard heavy boots on the floor outside the room, and he continued muttering them, almost like a prayer, between loud, labored, rattling breaths. This was the end.

The doorknob rattled as the intruder attempted to enter the room. They rammed the door with their shoulder, once, twice, and the door burst open. Galahad squeezed his eyes shut as more hacking coughs shook his body, and he waited for the killing blow to come.

There was a pause.

“You look like shit, Fearless Leader.” She said, voice wobbling slightly.

Galahad forced his eyes open and looked up. Eiger was covered in blood, most of it not hers. “I thought I told you to stop calling me that.” He said, quieter and more forced than he’d meant to.

She knelt down, rolled him onto his back and opened her first aid kit and began patching him up, hands shaking slightly as she spoke. “We’re leaving. Glory’s waiting at the end of the tunnels with a van. She can fix you up better than I can when we get there.”

Galahad shook his head. “I won’t make it. Don’t waste your kit on me.”

She didn’t make eye contact, just shrugged as she patched the hole in his side. “I’m carrying you out of here one way or another. Either you’ll make it or you won’t, but I’m going to fucking try.”

“Blitz?” He managed to croak out as he struggled not to scream as she applied pressure to his wound.

Eiger’s jaw clenched and her hands stopped moving. “I’m sorry.” Was all she said, as she stood and lifted Galahad and slung him over her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”

As she ran through the dark with him over her shoulder, Galahad saw the spot where he lost Blitz. There were only scorch marks and puddles of blood left.

The coughing only got worse as they wove their way through the narrow alleys of the kiez. The smell of blood and smoke and death filled his lungs and made him choke.

When they reached the entrance to the sewers, the street was crawling with corporate soldiers.

“Shit.” Eiger spat through gritted teeth. She stopped, crouched behind a half-destroyed wall.

“Leave me.” Galahad whispered.

Eiger tensed and shook her head. “No. We’re getting out of here. I’ll take care of them.”

“Listen,” he said, trying to keep his voice quiet and steady. “I’m not going to make it. But I’ve got enough power left to clear a path through them. It’ll take everything I’ve got, but I can fucking do it. I’ll burn a path through them, and you get the _fuck_ out of here and get back to Glory. I couldn’t protect Blitz, but I can do this. I promised Monika I’d die protecting the Kreuzbasar, and that’s what I have to do. Leave me.”

Eiger stood still for several moments, before giving a single nod and gently lowering him to the ground. She knelt down and put her hands on his shoulders, looking him directly in the eye for the first time since she found him. She’d been crying. “Make sure it hurts them like hell.”

Galahad nodded, closed his eyes and began to gather the last of his power. Eiger stood to the side and prepared to run for the sewer grate.

After several agonizing moments, he released a fireball into the middle on the street. The screams of the soldiers were music to his ears.

He saw Eiger slip into the sewers alone, and he smiled.

Then everything went black.


End file.
